LJUSDAL (SWEDEN) | LLEIDA (SPAIN) - Marie Fredriksson - Min bäste vän, EMI



The Daily Roxette’s two news editors, Thomas Evensson and Judith Seuma, share their comments on Marie Fredriksson’s new album “Min bäste vän,” in this review of an album where Marie covers some of her favorite songs from the late ’60s and early ’70s.


Thomas: These songs are all from the beginning of the ’70s, from before I listened to music. I know a few of them from radio, but mostly this is new material to me. Also the material is from the prog era, an era I’ve never cared for and which is mostly – if not totally – dead these days. I can imagine that Marie’s songs mean more to people older than me. Having said that, here we go!

Judith: Most of the songs are new to me as well, and even though I listened to the original tracks a couple of times before the album was released, that wasn’t enough to keep them in my mind and later be able to compare them. This means the songs don’t mean any era or have any political background to me and I can listen to them in a complete different level. I must add Marie has the gift to make hers any song she sings, listen to “Ännu doftar kärlek” or “Mot okända hav” – she puts so much feeling in them, and she makes such wonderful performances of these songs, that if you didn’t know she hadn’t written them herself, you would blindly think she did. And the same thought comes to my mind when I listen to many of the songs featured in this album. Last but not least, this album has all brightness and happiness “The Change” had of darkness.



Din bäste vän

Thomas: This time around Marie decided that she didn’t want to write her own material, so she picked songs that she loved when she was growing up. John Holm, a now-in-the-US emigrated Swede, was huge in the beginning of the ’70s. Din bäste vän is a nice track, Marie says the original was “much rockier” in the liner notes. Funnily enough the whole song is more or less programmed by Micke B, the only thing that’s “live” is Jokke Pettersson’s guitar. Jokke is Marie’s nephew by the way.

Judith: One of those tracks one could be mislead to think it is written by Marie. A little “Den standiga resan” and “I en tid som var” flair do the trick here.



Sommaräng

Thomas: this is another song written by John Holm, he has three songs on the album. The first (and only) time I heard this was in 1986 when Per Gessle played his favorite songs on a Swedish radio show. Marie’s version is very soft and I have to say, a good summer single. This track is also fully programmed by Micke. I like it.

Judith: The perfect song to listen to when laying by the beach or by the swimmingpool – where I am while writing this review. Just close your eyes, listen to the birds, Marie’s incredible voice, this calm tune, feel the breeze, listen to the water.. and fly.



Om jag vore arbetslös (If I Were a Carpenter), Tim Hardin, Swedish lyrics by Cornelis Vreesvijk.

Thomas: I really don’t like this, very repetitive and definitely not my cuppa tea. This song, by the way, is fully instrumented.

Judith: One of my favourite tracks – couldn’t be anyway else. Those rocky guitars, Marie making one of the fabulous vocal performance this album is full with – for I think I will regard this album as the one featuring Marie playing with her voice the most and excelling at it.



Guldgruva by Pugh (formerly Torbjörn) Rogefeldt.


Thomas: Harmonica played by Mats Ronander. I never could stand Pugh, and this is just as bad. This is a blues track. Terrible, but not the worst on the album.

Judith: Oh, how much I would love to listen to this song live! Marie comments in the booklet she dreams of recording a blues album. Where do I have to sing?



Ingen kommer undan politiken (Complainte Pour Ste. Catherine).

Thomas: I remember this from the radio when I was a kid, the original Swedish version of course. Sung by Marie Bergman, or should I say squeeled by her. I truly hated this and thought that Marie’s version would be as bad. I was wrong. I think this is a good version, and Bengan Jansson, the guy on the accordion is from Ljusdal! Marie claims this is a very political song, I can’t say myself, as I rarely listen to lyrics. (As I’m sure you all know by now!)

Judith: Whatever the lyrics are about, I consider the song playful, summery, bright. I love the instrumental arrangements.



Jag ger dej min morgon (I Give You The Morning).

Thomas: This is an all time classic in Sweden! Sung, written (lyrics) and made famous by late troubadour Fred Åkerström. Sadly I must say that Marie’s version doesn’t touch me.

Judith: Probably the song I like the least in this album, Marie’s performance is not bad, but she can do it better, doesn’t touch me either. The chorus repeats too often for my taste.



Aftonfalken.

Thomas: Another Pugh track. Still the same – weird. Pugh is mostly weird and was definitely in the beginning of the ’70s.

Judith: Another of those tracks I’d believe is Marie-penned. Great melancholic guitars, fantastic voice.



Man måste veta vad man önskar sej by Mikael Wiehe.

Thomas: Not a bad song at all, very summery.

Judith: Not much more to add, another playful bright song.
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STOCKHOLM - Marie Fredriksson’s new album “Min bäste vän” has entered the Swedish official album chart at #3 this week (June 22).


  On a side note, Mariefredriksson.se now features a streaming video of Marie singing “Små lätta moln,” which is the B-side of the “Sommaräng” single, outside in her sun-filled garden.

Daniel_alv and Txiqui contributed to this article.


  Update July 2:The video is now available - in full - on Maryjane.se.

• Hitlistan.se
• MarieFredriksson.se (latest version of Flash Player needed)
• Maryjane

VANCOUVER ISLAND - Ian Seggie is the senior producer for a cluster of radio stations serving the Vancouver Island area of British Columbia, Canada. Yesterday, Ian conducted a telephone interview with Per, who is enjoying the summer in Halmstad.

  Ian’s been a fan of Roxette since 1989 (“The Look” got his attention), so selecting and embedding various songs to build a musical soundtrack for the interview was a work of love. The result, an eight-minute segment, is now making the rounds of Island Radio’s six stations. It was aired on “The Wave” (CKWV-FM) today and they’ve been very kind to allow us to share it with our readers (see link below).

  “We had a great chat about SOAP and the new Roxette,” Ian tells The Daily Roxette. “He shared some personal insight about recording with Marie and told me that he just finished overdubs of the two new Roxette songs this past week.”

  Ian, who prepared for the interview by reading TDR, covers a lot of ground in this interview… from solo projects to the upcoming RoxBox. It is perhaps the best radio interview we’ve heard in a long time, as Ian doesn’t waste time asking the same old routine questions we usually hear. Instead, he lets the music remind his listeners about who it is he’s talking with, and that frees him up to ask more personal questions.

  As Ian told us, Per did indeed share his feelings about working with Marie again:

It was in fact wonderful, and emotional of course, but also (hehehe) it took about like an hour, and then we’re back in the groove. It was the same jokes, the same… everything was like the same. So even though time has gone by, it feels as if time has stood still for a bit so… It’s not like it was before because, you know, Marie is somewhat a changed person, for all that she’s gone through. But nevertheless, she still sings very well and, you know, it’s just been a pleasure to be able to record these songs. If you had asked me like two years ago if this would ever happen, I would definitely would never believed it to have happened. I’m really pleased that we actually could do it.

  Besides the two new songs that seem to be destined for the Rox20 compilation disc, Per also comments about the upcoming RoxBox, which has taken final shape: “It’s four CDs, a DVD – a little bit of this, a little bit of that – outtakes and demos and stuff. It’s like a coffee table thing, and it’s really, really big [with an] 80-page booklet and stuff.”

• Interview (MP3 format)
• Radio CKWV “The Wave” website

NEW YORK - It was at the very beginning of the “Nordic Rox” show on Sirius satellite radio last Sunday night that Per Gessle premiered the brand new “The Rox Medley.” It could be considered the public launch of the Rox 20 anniversary. We here at The Daily Roxette are pretty excited about the whole Rox 20 thing and feel like celebrating… and what better way to do that than to team up with Sirius and give some more stuff away!?!

  Sirius has been co-sponsoring the Swedish Music Seminar here in the Big Apple for the last few years, where The Daily Roxette first heard rumors of a Swedish music channel, and then later… that Per himself would be involved.

  Contest winners will receive an assortment of CDs from Sweden that TDR picked up at these seminars including music from The Ark, WhiteSilver, Hellacopters, Crash Diet, Laleh, Kristoffer Rangstam, Hellfueled, Hello Saferide, Daniel Lemma, Anna Ternheim, Andreas Johnson, BFF, Robyn, In Flames, Frida Hyvönen and The Hives.

  Along with all this music, the lucky winners will find a couple of promotional items directly from Sirius included in their prize package. Two of the winners will get to listen to all this great music while using the item pictured here. Guessing what it is is part of the contest.
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Per Gessle has left a new message on official Son Of A Plumber website where he comments about the recording of the new Roxette songs, which will included in the greatest hits Roxette will release this fall as part of the band’s 20th Anniversary celebration.

“Marie and I (together with Christoffer, Clarence and Jens) spent a couple of days (and nights) in the Aerosol Grey Machine-studio recently recording two new tracks for the upcoming Rox hits-collection. It really sounds fantastic! Marie is in good shape, Christoffer is laughing all the time and Clarence has grown a beard!


I’ll let you know the song titles shortly. I know you’re curious, my neighbour is….


Also, we did a great photoshoot with our old pal Jonas Linell the other day in a bowling alley. Strike!

  You’ll find the full message on the official website following the link below.

• Sonofaplumber.com

STOCKHOLM - Marie Fredriksson will sign her new album “Min bäste vän” at Åhlens City department store in Stockholm on June 16 at 17:30 CET.

STOCKHOLM (UPDATED) - In all quietness and secrecy a new single by Roxette has been released. This single is called “The Rox Medley” and consists of a medley, newly remixed by Clarence Öfwerman, Christoffer Lundquist and Jimmy Monell (Shooting Star) at Christoffer’s studio the Aerosol Grey Machine.

  The songs included in the medley are “The Look,” “Joyride,” “Listen to Your Heart,” “Dangerous,” “It Must Have Been Love” and “Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave).”

  This is, however, a radio release only, and according to the info sheet distributed with the promo CD, something to start the Rox20 celebration with. The record’s call number is CDPRO 4392.

  Update Jun. 16: This track will be publicly available as the B-side of the new single this fall.

• The Rox Medley

STOCKHOLM - Today EMI Sweden has launched a new website, Mariefredriksson.se, to promote Marie’s new album “Min bäste vän.” On the website you will find a snippet of “Sommaräng” and you will also be able to participate in a contest to win a signed picture, Mp3 players and beach towels. Enjoy!


  Update May 14: Marie’s website Maryjane.se has also been updated with information about the new album and single. The images section features a new picture as well.


  Update June 07: More pictures have been added to the images section of Maryjane.se. The pictures in “Marie 1” are taken from “Min bäste vän” booklet. The others.. just check and enjoy!

• MarieFredriksson.se
• Mary Jane Music (in English!)

STOCKHOLM - Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) has published an interview with Marie Fredriksson today. Reporter Sanna Björling met Marie to talk about the new album, childhood, music and life.


  Marie dug up her LP-albums and chose some Swedish songs she loved since she was young before she started to record “Min bäste vän”. She takes things easy now, tour stress is gone, but music is still there and her lust for life is huge. “I feel fine now,” she stresses out, “illness is gone.” “It’s fantastic,” she says again, and she says this word often. Maybe because words don’t come as easy as before, but mostly because she really feels like that, that everything is fantastic.


  “Min bäste vän” is released in a couple of weeks, Marie sings those songs she herself played in her record player when she was young, songs by John Holm, Pugh, Cornelis and Mikael Wiehe, “Pugh and Holm are the most important in the album. I always liked Pugh so much. He is a bit fuzzy and has his very own way of making music. ’Här kommer natten’ is special. Even though my version is very similar to his, it sounds different when a woman sings it. It’s done my way.”


  The process to choose the songs went smoothly. Together with her husband Micke Bolyos, who produced and also plays in the album, they listened to those albums and chose which songs to cover. They started already last summer with Tatartcheff/McGarrigles “Ingen kommer undan politiken” (with Swedish lyrics by Ola Magnell). The album was recorded in January and is ready now.


  Marie is feeling a bit cold, she wears a pink t-shirt, a vest and black jeans. Her hair is cut short and blond. She is thin in her body but her face is not skinny. It’s a result of the medicine she had to take during her illness, and Marie prefers to talk about something else. There’s a before and an after her brain tumour, Marie’s life is different today, “one can forget about all stress. I stressed too much in the past, Roxette took all my energy. One cannot live like that for long, and maybe, I think, there was some meaning in all what has happened, even if it may sound weird.” Marie wants to go on with her life. She has recorded the album in her studio home, and now that Spring and Summer are finally here, she is often out in her garden. Sometimes she gets busy with her flowers, and she likes to see how seasons change. “Everything changes in the garden.. I love to live, I don’t want to die. I want to go on living, my way, and that’s for sure not like I lived before. It is nice to take things easy,” states Marie stressing out the words of the last sentence.


  Marie’s career has been successful both with Per Gessle and solo. Roxette sold 45 million albums, and they have toured around the world and been number 1 in USA four times. Marie explains that she definitely misses to be on stage in front of thousands of people. Of course it’s hard. “What we did with Roxette was great and I’m very proud of it. We celebrate our 20th anniversary in Autumn, can you believe it? We got to see many places, even if we traveled fast, we always tried to see little here and there of all the cities we visited. But everything went so fast. Then I met Micke and things changed, and when Josefin was born we totally calmed down. Per also got a child.” Roxette will release a greatest hits in Autumn, which will feature two new songs and a bunch of unreleased demos.

• Article in Dagens Nyheter

Read more…

STOCKHOLM - EMI Sweden has updated Marie’s official website with a new picture and a couple of snippets from the album: “Sommaräng,” “Aftonfalken,” “Din bäste vän” and “Ingen kommer undan politiken.”


  Marie also comments on the album:

  Marie has decided to title her new album “Min bäste vän” (My Best Friend), where she makes own personal covers of the music she grew up with during the ’60s and ’70s.


  “I missed singing in Swedish again, and I longed for my old friends, all those songs I often listened to before..”


  When she got her old LPs from the ’70s and started to play them again she discovered how good those songs actually were and she started to think about a new album.


  “I found out I wanted to sing those songs myself. Use my voice to my favorite songs by John Holm, Pugh, the Hoola Bandoola Band. And when Micke (Bolyos, Marie’s husband) and I decided to record a new album, everything went so fast. I didn’t want to drag things out too much, just go for it.”


  The album was recorded during winter 2006 in Vinden studio, together with a small group of musicians consisting of guitar players Jokke Pettersson, Ola Gustavsson and Staffan Astner, brothers Sven and Per Lindvall on bass and drums and Mats Ronander, who plays harmonica on Pugh’s “Guldgruva.” Micke Bolyos produced and arranged the album.


  “We had so much fun,” says Marie. And one can hear that on the album, which is full of freedom and improvisation, both in Marie’s way of singing and Micke’s arrangements inspired by the ’70s. One can hear everything from Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles to Steely Dan, Jamaica-ska and jazz by Preservation Hall.


  “I don’t think everything has to be pure and clean anymore, like I did before,” tells Marie, “I just go for it.. and then anything can happen!”

  EMI Finland’s website also offers you the possibility to listen to “Aftonfalken” in full via their online Jukebox.

• MarieFredriksson.se
• EMI Finland - Aftonfalken

STOCKHOLM - Per, the Plumber’s son, Gessle opened his own MySpace page today. It will be a complement to the other sites, like SonofaPlumber.com.

  MySpace apparently has over 80 million members and is a must for today’s musicians that want to be seen, according to TDR’s sources.

• Gessle’s space

STOCKHOLM - Now the new web site of Micke Syd’s has opened. You can see, among other things, videos and Micke’s blog there. Micke also has an e-mail address for you to get in touch with him. The site is in Swedish only. Future plans include a webshop, “where you can buy Syd underpants and drum sticks” claims Micke.

  According to Micke the site is far from finished, he wants it to be a fun place, which sounds promising.

• Micke Syd.se (In Swedish)